The Significance Of The English Language English Language Essay

The Significance Of The English Language English Language Essay English language is really considered as a significant language since it has been used for communicating worldwide. Therefore, learning English is very common in many countries and language learning styles, especially reading styles are learned differently by students in globalization. More importantly, language learning styles are the core factors that help decide how the students learn a foreign language. In the article by (Rebecca, 2003), a foreign language is a language studied in an environment where it is not the major vehicle for every day communication and where input in the language is classified. In an article by Mulalic et al. (2009), students learning styles have been unnoticed as an irrelevant module in the learning process. Apparently, once lecturers become aware that different students learn various styles, they try to accommodate those learning styles in the classroom. When looking into lecturers teaching practices, it is possible to understand that the majority of the lecturers are not sensitive with their students learning styles. The problems occur when lecturers are not aware of the significance to create and explore learning styles. In second language teaching or learning situations for academic goals, especially in higher education in English universities which make far-reaching use of academic materials written in English, reading is vital. Surely, without reading proficiency, second language readers cannot achieve at levels they study. Consequently, successful reading in a second language is important. Also, professional in second language education should take into consideration with approaches which can develop the learners reading skills. Interactive approaches to reading are crucial for recognizing the complicated nature of reading, specifically when it happens in a second language and culture (Carrell, Devine Eskey, 2000). In the beginning of 1970s, researchers became aware that learning strategies, styles, and personal characteristics could have significant influence in language acquisition. Michael OMalley and Anna Chamot and their colleagues conducted a lot of learning strategies (reading, writing, speaking, listening, vocabulary, etc) and grouped them into three main categories. The first category was metacognitive strategy, which included organization, comprehension, and evaluation in gaining knowledge. The second category is cognitive strategy, which emphasized in learning assignments and its applications. The third one was socioaffective strategy, which focused on interpersonal interaction and social-mediating activity (Brown, 2000). In a globalized world, reading serves as a primary medium for information transmission and communication. Beneficially, reading improves cognitive capacity, sharpens critical thinking ability and enhances problem-solving skills, and it may even transform the development of individuals. Stanovich (1986) suggested that good readers will read more and read better while poor readers read less, and in turn obstruct further growth in reading ability. Since English language has been introduced in Cambodia, EFL students learning styles have adapted to the language acquisition. In the past students were likely to get knowledge through listening to the teachers while teachers lacked specific training about teaching methodology. In the study by (Nguyen 2001), the learning style of Cambodian students is typically memorization at the expense of realistic purpose. Consequently, they would rather learn grammar and reading than on listening and speaking. Specifically, most Cambodian learners feel more comfortable and enjoyable with having things which are written on the whiteboard in order that they can write them down and study at home. Hopefully, students hope to get handouts of summaries or lecture outlines. Furthermore, some Cambodian learners reveal that they face a lot of pressures of how to adapt the new cultural environment and how to get on with their peers in class. Some feel lonely because the ways they dress or talk are so diff erent. As for the case of EFL Cambodian classrooms, Keuk (2009), found that most teachers use practical habitual teaching methods such as vocabulary translation from second language to first language. As a result, students are taught to remember chunks of English language with mainly focused on grammar and vocabulary. 1.2 Research Problems Without recognizing proper learning styles, particularly reading styles students seem not to achieve better results in their academic performance and their English proficiency seems to be slow. Furthermore, students are less likely to improve their language acquisition very quickly, as they do not know the effective learning reading skills. In spite of the variety of academic courses which the EFL undergraduate students take in English, and the tough efforts universities and lecturers apply to develop students language skills, the students language performance, unfortunately, has been tedious. This could be recognized to the diverse learning styles and habits which are used by students in studying English, including preferring having things written on the whiteboard to listening to the lecturers explanation, nervousness of speaking in classroom, preferring working individually and personally to working in pairs or groups, and translating the words they do not know into their own lang uage while reading the text. Frequently, encountering new words in reading is common for learners, especially L2 learners. It may not obstruct the general understanding of the text, but if too many words are not known, then intellectual capacity might suffer a lot. Pedagogically, most of the lecturers practice traditional teaching method, grammar translation method form first language to second language while teaching English language. The final noticeable problem is that large classes pose some significant challenges in class room setting and reduced effectiveness of classroom management. In a study by Nuttal (1982), students learning English seem to be slow due to the fact that they do not have opportunities to read a lot. Most of the class time is devoted to learning about the language, that is learning grammar and learning to read through translation. Students are taught in a traditional way. They approach their reading assignment by putting all their effort and concentration into the passages they read. They carefully read the passage word by word. When reading and encountering an unfamiliar word, they stop reading and look up the meaning of the word in a dictionary. This reading behavior not only slows down their reading speed, but also hinders their reading comprehension. 1.3 Objectives of Study This study aims specifically to identify the learning reading of EFL undergraduate students in Cambodia. An additional aim of the research is to explore the affects and the outcomes of undergraduate students in learning reading in English as a foreign language. 1.4 Research Questions This research aims to investigate the effective factors in learning reading skills in English as a foreign language. The following research questions can be formulated for the study. Are there any differences in learning reading among Cambodian undergraduates? Is there a correlation between learning styles and learning outcomes? 1.5 Significance of Study As a part of educational development, this study is significant for four reasons. First, exploring students learning styles in reading in English in Cambodian higher education will help improve students language acquisition. Second, the study will shed light on the effective learning reading of EFL successful Cambodian undergraduates, which can be used as a model of learning reading in English. Third, this research will help to contribute to the usefulness of appropriate reading teaching and learning techniques in order to promote reading skills, particularly in EFL Cambodian context. In addition, from a methodological perception, it is also hoped that the findings from this study will be useful for providing second language reading and several strategies for reading comprehension based on Brown (2001). More importantly, the findings will help to develop the students capability of dealing with unknown words in their English vocabulary learning process, help to improve their reading c omprehension, and conduct more beneficial suggestions for both English teaching and English learning. 1.6 Definition of Terms In an attempt to better understand this study, some key terms are defined as follows. EFL students learning styles mean techniques, behaviors, actions, habits and steps employed by learners learning English as a Foreign Language to improve and develop their different language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Moreover, the term learning style refers to the general approach preferred by the student when learning a subject, acquiring a language, or dealing with a difficult problem (Oxford 2001; Reid 1998) Extensive reading refers to the improving well habitual reading, increasing knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and motivating a connecting in reading (Richard Schmidt, 2002: 193-194). 1.7 Proposed Chapter This paper will be chronologically composed of five main chapters. Chapter one is the introduction, consisting of background of the study, researcher problem, research objective, research question, significance of the study, and definition of key concepts. Chapter two is literature review, which discusses on the problems and solutions of the study. Chapter three is methodology, which consists of research design, participants, method, instruments, tools data collection, data analysis, ethnical consideration, strengths and limitation of research. Chapter four is discussion and findings, presenting the findings related to the effective learning reading skills to make students learn effectively. Chapter five is conclusion and recommendation, summarizing the problems and findings of the study and suggesting some strategies to help improve the weaknesses. Moreover, these five chapters are followed systematically by references and appendices. 1.8 Conceptual Framework Since English has become popular and international language for communicating, many learning styles are applied in a broader educational context in Cambodia. In Cambodian universities, students learning reading skills inside and outside the classroom are identified as follows: skimming and scanning, semantic mapping or clustering, previewing and predicting, strategies for reading comprehension, interactive reading model, three-part model of reading, extensive reading. Cambodian undergraduate students learning reading skills Skimming and Scanning Previewing and Predicting Strategies for Reading Comprehension Interactive Reading Model Three-part Model of Reading Extensive Reading Metacognitive Knowledge and Self Monitoring Teaching Second Language Reading Skills The Affects of Students Learning Styles and Learning Outcomes CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REVIEW Reading involves a variety of factors which may have an impact on learners reading ability. Weaver (1988) defined reading as the process of constructing meaning through the energetic interaction among the readers existing knowledge, the information recommended by the written language, and the situation in reading context. In a study by (Miller Yochum, 1991; Donnell Wood, 1999), maintained that the reading difficulties students face may be related to inaccurate knowledge of the reading process, lack interest and motivation, fluency, concept density, organization, and difficult vocabulary. Heffernan (1999) as cited in Aqel (2006), determined that many studies on language learning styles applied and gained differently base on motivation and outcome, level of language , years of learning language, teaching methods, difficult content, and students background and sex. He also added that successful language learners use various styles in learning language, and the teacher can help in increasing learning styles through teaching strategies that probably help weak students to choose the appropriate learning styles for dissimilar educational tasks. 2.1 Reading Skills 2.1.1 Skimming and Scanning In their book More Reading Power, Mikulecky Jeferies (1996) stated that skimming and scanning are the two important strategies. Skimming is high-speed reading which can save students a lot of time. Students skim to get the broad idea or gist of a text or a book, the main topic, and some of the supporting ideas. Students should read the words which help them gain the sense of the passage. Also, teachers can train students to skim passages by giving those 30 seconds to look through a few pages of material, close their books and then tell you what they learned. More importantly, there are three effective strategies for skimming: (1) Read quickly as you can; (2) keeping in mind the reason for skimming; (3) be flexible while you are skimming the passage (pp.132-133). Scanning, however, is very high-speed reading. Students should have a question in their mind when they scan the text; they do not read every word, only the words which answer the question. Practicing scanning will help students learn to skip over insignificant words in order that they can read more rapidly. For example, teachers ask students to look for names, dates, to find a definition of a key concept or to list a certain number of supporting details. For academic English, scanning is absolutely essential. In general English, scanning is important in dealing with genres like schedules, manuals, forms, etc (pp.15-16). 2.1.2 Previewing and Predicting Mikulecky et.al (1996), students should make a difference before they read. They can get some ideas about what they are going to read. As a result, they will start to process the information faster as well as they will be able to catch the ideas of the writer better. Even though it takes two or three minutes to preview and predict, those minutes are well invested. Later, they will find that they save lots of time in reading and improve comprehension. Here are the hints for previewing and predicting about language text: (1) read the title of the passage; (2) decide what sort of the text it is; (3) look at the organization of the text; (4) read very fast the first line of each paragraph or sub-division; (5) notice repeated names, numbers, dates, and words; (6) read rapidly the very last few sentences in the last paragraph. 2.1.3 Strategies for Reading Comprehension Comprehension or reading strategies show how readers conceive of a task, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand. In short, such strategies are processes used by the learner to improve reading comprehension and conquer comprehension failures (Singhal, 2001). In a second language study, Hosenfeld (1977) used a think-aloud procedure to identify relations between certain types of reading strategies and successful or unsuccessful second language reading. The successful reader, for instance, kept the meaning of the passage in mind while reading and skipped less important words but the unsuccessful reader lost the meaning of the sentences when decoded and seldom skipped unimportant words. In an article by Youngmee Suh (2005), one of the helpful strategies for reading comprehension is to be aware of the purpose in reading. Teachers should direct students how to get information through reading, to follow directions to do a task, for pleasure, to get in touch with friends and classmates, to know what is happening around the world, to discover out when and where things are, and for being interested about a topic. Furthermore, clear recognition of the intention in reading something is necessary for effective reading. Doing this, we know what we are finding out and we are not disturbed by other information. Consequently, it is compulsory for English reading lecturers to make sure students know their purpose in reading something. 2.1.4 Interactive reading model Whilst a reader constantly moves from a top-down approach to guess feasible meaning to bottom-up approach to prove all the details in interactive reading, interactive-compensatory model. Based on the study by Stanovich(1986), any stage functions interactively with any other stage. Readers are thought to increase the reading processes efficiently. In this model, less-automatic processes cooperate recurrently, and automatic processes activate independently. Therefore, reading difficulties are overcome by both interaction and compensation. According to Youngmee Shu (2005) stated that the reader brings information, knowledge, emotion, experience, and culture to the text. There are two types of schemata, content schemata and formal schemata. Content schemata include our knowledge about people, the world, culture, and the universe, however, formal schemata include knowledge about discourse structure such as illustration, cause-effect, or comparison are broadly studied because reading comprehension is a subject of developing proper, proficient comprehension strategies. Some of the strategies are associated with bottom-up processes and others with the top-down processes, each of which can be practically applied to classroom techniques 2.1.5 Three-part Model of Reading According to Song et.al (1999), there is a positive relationship between reading strategies and successful reading. Moreover, a reading class should be planned focusing on three-part model of reading with interactive activities. Lecturers should present different techniques to teach effectively reading in three various levels of reading, pre-reading, while- reading, and post-reading. Based on Youngmee Shu (2005) identified that In pre-reading level, schema of the text should be activated. Teachers often introduce a topic and ask questions about the text. Students skim the text for an overview of main ideas. Students tune in to the context and topic of the text and consider how the while-reading activity will be done. While-reading is for purposeful reading. Students work on certain facts or rhetorical devices to have a sense of purpose for reading 2.1.6 Extensive Reading In their book Extensive Reading in the Second Language classroom, Day and Bamford (1998) state the following characteristics for the Extensive Approach: reading as much as possible, book after book, where the meaning is the focus, students select their own readings, students cover a variety of materials and topics, students read for pleasure, information and general understanding, reading is its own reward, reading materials are within the range of the students linguistic competence, reading is individual and silent, reading speed is usually fast, reading teachers are guides and facilitators, and teachers are role models of a reader for students. This approach can be very beneficial and rewarding to student readers. Day and Bamford mention the following benefits: developing good reading habits, encouraging a liking for reading, developing structure and vocabulary, increasing general second language competence, developing automaticity, enhancing background knowledge, improving compreh ension skills, and promoting confidence and motivation. In an article by Ming-yueh Shen (2008), reading extensively is to expose students to a great amount of reading materials, enhance students reading fluency, and develop a good reading habit. 2.1.7 Metacognitive knowledge Metacognitive knowledge and self monitoring are the significant elements of fluent reading skills. Knowledge about cognition including knowledge about language, relating to identifying patterns of structure and organization, and using appropriate strategies to achieve specific goals (e.g., comprehending texts, remembering information). Connected with reading this will consist of recognizing the vital information in a text; adjusting reading rate; using context to deal with a misunderstood part; skimming portions of the text; previewing headings; pictures, and summaries; using search strategies for finding specific information; formulating questions about the information; using a dictionary; using word formation and affix information to guess word meanings; taking notes; underlining; and summarizing information. Monitoring of cognition regarding to recognizing problems with information presented in the texts or incapacity to accomplish expected aims. In addition, the ability to use me tacognitive skills successfully is broadly recognized as a critical component of reading skills. The Affects of Studentslearning Styles and Learning Outcomes Since the learning of students is likely to accomplish the better outcomes, there are some effective learning styles and strategies are applied to students learning. As stated by Youngmee shu (2005): Bottom-up models are based on text- or data-driven operations. In bottom-up processing, the letters, words and language features in the text are decoded while reading, and through this process, readers understand intensive and local meaning of the text. The reader is considered as a scientist with a magnifying glass examining the details. On the other hand, top-down models are based on meaning- or conceptually-driven operations. The reader is compared as a person with an eagles eye view of a landscape below. Schema (prior) knowledge for prediction is an important operation for a reader to understand and infer the meaning of the text. More recent research on teaching reading has shown that a combination of top-down and bottom-up processing called interactive reading is important. The interactive model suggests that the reader constructs meaning by the selective use of information from all sources of meaning (graphemic, phonemic, morphemic, syntax, semantics) without adherence to any o ne set order. The reader simultaneously uses all levels of processing even though one source of meaning can be primary at a given time. CHAPTER3 METHODOLOGY 3.1Research design Unlike the qualitative approaches, quantitative research is conducted to test the theory of natural setting (Fraenkel Wallen, 2000). Since the intent of this study significantly is to identify the differences of learning reading skills of Cambodian undergraduate students, the researcher will use a cross-sectional survey research. The researcher will explore the learning reading styles of EFL Cambodian undergraduate students. 3.2 Participants The target population in this study will be students in three private universities in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The simple random sampling will be employed in order to obtain information. The participants will be selected through the help of table of random numbers. The sample consists of 100 students, who are studying English Literature in those universities. Also, the researcher will choose 40 female and 60 male students. Before conducting interviews, the researcher will make an appointment and notify the reasons of visit to the Rector of University. 3.3 Research instruments With the purpose of getting trustworthy information, the researcher will use written questionnaire and structured interview to obtain data from participants. The questionnaire will consist of 2 parts. In part 1, there are 42 Likert Scale items. The students will be asked to provide their responses about learning reading both inside and outside classroom. As for part 2, there are four open-ended questions, which a researcher will use to ask them to provide their answers based on their ideas. To ensure content validity, the researcher discussed the problem with the English language teachers who have had experience in teaching English. Reading test will be used to measure to outcomes of the students and questionnaire contains the common learning reading skill of students. Apart from this, interview will be utilized to get information about perception of students on a variety of students learning style. 3.4 Data collection The pilot test will be distributed to participants before conducting interview. Prior to carrying out the interviews, the researcher will ask permission from university rector and students. The researcher expects interview will take 30 minutes and occur in the universities or outside the universities. The options for selecting site for interview will be provided for the participants because it helps reduce the participants difficulties. Moreover, the study objective will be verbally informed to participants before conducting interviews. The researcher might ask different participants to answer the questions based on their preferences. The students will be asked to provide their responses about the learning reading of EFL Cambodian undergraduate students based on their ideas. 3.5 Data analysis After collecting data from the field setting, the researcher will identify any information about the number of members of participants who will not return the survey or response in any questions in order to prevent any respondent bias. The data will be carefully analyzed through SPSS in an attempt to explore scores, percentages and means of students reading skills. The scores of students will be converted into mean in order to compare students with students who use different styles of learning and their learning outcomes. 3.6 Ethical consideration To successfully conduct this study, the researcher will take into consideration about some safeguards. First, the consent form will be given to the participants to sign if they really agree to join in the study. Second, the purpose of this study will be clearly informed to participants in order to build mutual understanding and rapport. Third, the researcher will profoundly tell the participants that their participation will be voluntary and stopping from interviews will be the participants choice. Finally, the researcher will keep data collected in secret place which no one besides researcher will have access to get it. Furthermore, I will bring together the names of participants but keep them confidential. Personal identifiers will be released to the public in a way that protects the identification of participants. 3.7 Limitation of research This study is guided with the following limitations, which affect the generality of the finding. First, the study focuses three universities English students in Department of English. Second, the study may be limited in its analysis or generality as it will be conducted in three private universities, in which 100 students will be selected randomly. Third, since this study will mainly explore only important learning reading, some points might be ignored. However, the purpose of this study is not to provide the broad generalization but to explore the learning reading of Cambodian undergraduate students in three universities in Phnom Penh. Therefore, the above-mentioned compounding circumstances might limit understanding and evaluation; however, these are generally overwhelmed and controlled by the research design.

Papa Dont Preach Essay -- Literary Analysis, Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, tells the tale of a young orphan girl who is left under the jurisdiction of her dead uncle’s cruel wife and her family. Alone in the large estate and often subjugated to her aunt’s unjust punishments and her cousin’s fist, Jane becomes solitary and sensitive to the kindness of others. She awaits the liberation of adulthood to become self-sufficient and to find someone to love. Similarly, in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier grows up in a motherless household with her authoritative father and treacherous sisters. She is often considered the model of female oppression and empowerment in the late 1800s, but her â€Å"awakening† actually results from her experiences in a cold and distant family. Edna’s suppressive childhood leads to her desire for independence in adulthood and helps her come to the realization that mothers play an important role in their children’s lives. Misinterpreted as hidden desires, Edna’s emotions towards love and freedom stem from the lack of familial love. Her father’s flippant thoughts towards her are shown when he tells Leonce that â€Å"authority, coercion are what is needed†¦ [to] manage a wife† [94]. He regards his daughter as just another woman and approaches raising her in the same manner that he treated his wife. Edna’s distant relationship with her sisters is shown in her refusal to go to the wedding [94] and her distaste for the motherly tones in her elder sister’s affections [22]. Coming from an isolated plantation, her youth was lonely and in result she grew to lack proper social skills and became more sensitive to kindness. This is supported by Adele’s statement to Robert, â€Å"...she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously.† ... ... follow them. While she had these unselfish undertones, the ultimate reason for her suicide was the desire to not be possessed by anyone; she had considered the children but this final act was her defiance. Taking her mother’s lead, she decides to not run away and to face her separation through death. Edna’s family had a profound effect on what her views and desires leading up to her awakening. The distance between them, geographically and emotionally, would eventually lead to her want of intimacy and warmth once found. The absence of a proper family structure in Edna’s childhood home set the foundation for her indifference to the roles of a wife and a mother, also creating a feeling of irresponsibility. Not until after making the acquaintance of a maternal and sensible woman, Adele, does Edna truly learn the burden of a mother’s position in her children’s lives.

Dreams and Success in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Essays

Dreams and Success in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman  Ã‚        Ã‚  In Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, Miller probes the dream of Willy Lowman while making a statement about the dreams of American society. This essay will explore how each character of the play contributes to Willy's dream, success, and failure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Willy is the aging salesman whose imagination is much larger than his sales ability. Willy's wife, Linda, stands by her husband even in his absence of realism. Biff and Happy follow in their father's fallacy of life. Willy's brother, Ben is the only member of the Loman family with the clear vision necessary to succeed. Charlie and his son Benard, on the other hand, enjoy better success in life compared to the Lomans. Miller has written an ambiguous play - unwilling to commit himself to a firm position with respect to tawdry business ethic and the ?industrialized? American dream. Miller alludes to an earlier version of the American dream - escape to the West and the farm, but he then denies us the fulfillment of our expectations. The play makes no judgment on America, although Miller seems always on the verge of one. But Willy is not a tragic hero; he is a foolish and ineffectual man for whom we feel pity. We cannot equate Willy?s failure to realize his dream with the failure of the American dream.   Indeed, there is a lot of room for failure as well as great success in America. The system is not the one to blame. Willy can only blame himself for not becoming what he wanted to be. The next character, Willy Loman's wife Linda, is not part of the solution but rather part of the problem with this dysfunctional family and their inability to see things for what they really are. Louis Gordon ... ...ly one of them capable of achieving success. However, Charlie and his son Bernard were able to achieve greatness and to make the system work for them. In the end, the decision to make it in this American system is, ironically, up to the individual.    Works Cited Eisinger, Chester E. "Focus on Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman': The Wrong Dreams," in American Dreams, American Nightmares, (1970 rpt In clc. Detroit: Gale Research. 1976 vol. 6:331 Foster, Richard J. (Confusion and Tragedy: The Failure of Miller's 'Salesman' (1959) rpt in clc. Detroit: Gale Research. 1983 vol. 26:316 Gardner, R. H. ("Tragedy of the Lowest Man," in his Splintered Stage: (1965) rpt in clc. Detroit: Gale Research. 1983 vol. 2l6:320 Gordon, Lois "Death of a Salesman": An Appreciation, in the Forties: 1969) rpt in clc. Detroit: Gale Research. 1983 vol. 26:323   

Geologic History of Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire and Red Rock Canyon Red Rock Canyon is presently located 5 miles west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is 197,000 acres within the Mojave Desert. The canyon is one of several in the state with the name Red Rock, this one is located on the east side of Spring Mountain, the flat land rises to a great colorful escarpment, formed along a fault zone (the Keystone Thrust) with several peaks over 8,000 feet, and including huge cliffs and ravines composed of bands of gray Paleozoic carbonates, white and red Jurassic sandstone, all heavily eroded. The wide empty plains beneath the hills are studded with Joshua trees and other plants typical of the Mojave Desert, contributing to a most impressive spectacle. Red rock canyon has a fairly complex geologic history. The now national conservation area was at the bottom of a deep ocean basin and the western coast of North America was in present day Utah. Around 542 million years ago, Paleozoic, the area was under a deep ocean. Thick deposits of sediment, about 9,000ft, were lithified. This lithified sediment eventually formed limestone and other similar carbonate rocks. Preservation of marine invertebrate fossils provides evidence for a marine setting for the Paleozoic. Starting around 250 million years ago, the Mesozoic era, the earths crust rose due to tectonic shifts. This forced water out of the area leaving behind rock formations of salt and gypsum, this lead to the exposure of the former sea bed causing the rock to oxidize to the now characteristic red-orange color. The Paleozoic carbonates are dominantly gray in color and only red-orange locally. These pre-existing carbonate deposits were dissolved and oxidized due to sea level drop and sub aerial exposure, creating an unconformable surface (unconformity). The seabed rose slowly somewhere around 225 million years ago, causing streams to enter shallow waters, depositing mud and sand. This later became shale and marine sandstones of the Triassic Moenkopi formation. During Triassic time, the changing landscape trapped several large bodies of water. These meandering streams deposited mud, gravel and other debris like logs. In some cases minerals replaced the organics changing them into petrified wood. These are some of the few fossils found at the foot of the cliffs. These terrestrial deposits make up the Triassic Chinle Formation. Around 180 million years ago the sea levels had dropped leaving the area completely arid similar to the Sahara desert, a large desert with shifting red sands and huge dune fields. Winds shifted the dunes and leveled older ones leaving angled lines in the sand referred to as cross-beds. These in turn were buried by other sediments and eventually cemented into sandstone by iron oxide and calcium carbonate. The sandstone is locally known as Aztec sandstone; it is very hard and forms the prominent cliffs of the Red Rock escarpment. The Aztec equivalent is known as the Navajo Sandstone, which crops out in many of the Utah National Parks, so the migrating sand sea was laterally extensive. The most significant feature of Red Rock Canyon is the Keystone Thrust Fault, a reverse fault with a shallow dip. A thrust fault is a fracture in the earth's crust, resulting in a compressing force driving one crustal plate over the top of another. This results in older rock lying on top of younger. The Keystone Thrust is part of a large system of thrust faults that extends north into Canada. The dark grey Cambrian Limestone of the Bonanza King Formation was moved sideways and above Aztec Sandstone from the Jurassic era. Placing in essence older stone over younger, opposite of what we know to usually happen in geologic time and from the laws of superposition. This thrust fault was most active during the long Sevier Orogeny, a mountain building event, about 70 million years ago. This tectonic activity from the west pushed upper crust eastward; the movement on the Sevier fold-thrust was nearly 100 kilometers. Geologist believe 65 million years ago, during the Larimide Orogeny, that two of the earth's crustal plates collided with such force that part of one plate was shoved up and over younger sandstones. This thrust contact is clearly defined by the sharp contrast between the grey limestones and the red sandstones. The southern Nevada section of the fold and thrust belt was not affected by Larimide deformation just Sevier Orogeny. Like the Larimide, the Sevier Orogeny was also due to collision of earth’s crustal plates at the subduction zone at the western US margin. The stress and strain associated with this collision caused low-angle thrusting further inland, which is embodied by the Rocky Mountain topography that we see today. The reason Nevada is the most mountainous state is because the continental crust was stretched almost 100% in Tertiary time. Southern NV was affected by this extension, as shown by Fig 1 with the thrusts that are split by the strike-slip faults. The thrust faults were emplaced in Late Jurassic to early Tertiary time. Then, during the Miocene, right lateral movement on the LVVSZ split all of the pre-existing thrusts. So, if that is the case, then the rocks that you see at Red Rocks are the same as seen in the VALLEY OF FIRE. However, there are Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks that crop out in the Valley of Fire that don’t exist or are buried and not exposed in Red Rock Canyon. Valley Of fire is located 55 miles Northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada east of Overton. It encompasses 46,000 acres and is Nevada’s oldest state park. The geologic history of this park follows the same time line are Red rock. With only a few differences, the white and red Jurassic sandstone and limestone’s from the Paleozoic era. These are the same sequence of rock units as exposed in Red Rocks The Muddy Mountain thrust of the Valley Of Fire is equivalent to the Keystone thrust in Red Rocks, which brings Cambrian Bonanza King over the Jurassic Aztec. The Willow Tank Thrust is the easternmost thrust, which brings Jurassic Aztec over the Cretaceous Willow Tank Formation (thrust is shown in fig 2). Cretaceous rocks in the Valley of Fire (these rocks were deposited in a foreland basin in front of the thrust belt and thus were preserved due to subsequent burial). The Willow Tank Formation, ~101-98 Ma, dates from a fossil fern and radiometric ages from ash beds, conglomerates, mudstones, ash beds, sandstones in this unit. Which are interpreted to have been deposited in a low-lying floodplain and lake environments. White Member Sandstones and conglomerates are interpreted to be deposited in braided stream and alluvial fan environments, 95-96 Ma, age dates from ash beds. The white color is attributed to the uplift and erosion of the Jurassic Aztec sandstone on the Willow Tank thrust. So this unit is derived from the erosion of that frontal thrust Red Member. Also, sandstones and conglomerates have been interpreted to be deposited in braided stream and alluvial fan environments, ~93 Ma, age date from one ash bed the red color is due to erosion of older units (Triassic-Paleozoic) on the Willow Tank Thrust. Overton Conglomerate Member is dominantly carbonates with subordinate sandstone interpreted to be mainly braided stream deposits which the age not known. The Tertiary units that crop out in the Valley of Fire are basin-fill deposits. While extension was happening (Basin and Range), many valleys were formed and housed river, lake and alluvial fan depositional environments. So the Tertiary Horse Spring and Muddy Creek Formations are basin-fill deposits. The climate in the present day area contributes to the preservation of the outcrops of sandstone. With mild winters I ranging from 0 to 75 degrees and summers exceeding 120 degrees, the arid landscape only has weathering from wind to deal with. The rainfall rarely exceeds 4inches a year. Some of the interesting and peculiar shaped out crops include the Atlatl (at’-lat-l) Rock which is named for an ancient Indian spear that is depicted in many petro glyphs or rock art. There are many of these petro glyphs through out the Valley Of Fire and Red Rock Canyon. Atlatl Rock is located  near the west entrance of the park. It has some outstanding examples of petro glyphs. In order to see it you must climb up a stairway which is about 40 feet high. The petro glyphs at Atlatl Rock are out in the open, visible to passers by, about 40 to 60 feet above the ground. The main panel is a relatively flat surface which faces exactly east. This was verified by taking compass readings from several vantage points. Atlatl Rock shows a set of images which appear to tell some kind of story. There are many interpretations of these images. Some of the interpretations are controversial. No one will ever really know what any petro glyph that was made in prehistoric times means. Through the means of ethnographic analogy, anthropologists try to interpret the possible meanings of these images. Atlatl Rock is intriguing because it contains images that we seem to know the meaning of because they look familiar. The images we think we know are mixed in with images that we can only guess at. The Beehives are so named for their resemblance to beehives. This effect is caused by erosion, mostly wind, or Aeolian processes. Aeolian erosion has two main processes, deflation and abrasion. Nearby is evidence of the process of deflation where sand is removed by wind and transported across the desert forming sand dunes and abrading rock surfaces along the way. Although Aeolian abrasion is not often as significant as the abrasion process in streams or along shores, it is significant over long periods of time. The results are sculpted rocks with unusual shapes due to the in situ erosion. In a fluvial environment erosion results in rounded shapes as rocks are tumbled end over end. The wind based abrasion pits, polishes, facets and shapes the exposed rock surfaces in as many ways as the wind can blow. As the sand is ultimately deposited in dunes somewhere, it takes on the shapes of ripples and waves like sand under flowing water. As the sand piles up, dunes get larger. As the wind continues to blow, the dunes migrate in the direct that it does. The shifting winds and the continuing deposition of sand creates an effect called cross bedding. This is caused by the sand being blown down the slip face or leeward side of the dune. Over time the dunes that were created in this area became fossilized. Geologic process have reveal these fossilized dune fields and exposed them to erosion. At the Beehives we see the process repeat and reveal itself. The wind blown sand abrades the softer rock first articulating the layers of sand originally deposited hundreds of millions of years ago as the courser, leeward deposit remains. One of the most well known is the Seven Sisters, seven free standing rocks all in a single row. The Seven Sisters are called that because of the unusual results of Aeolian erosion on the bright red sandstone. This type of erosion is common in deserts. In the Valley of Fire wind erosion creates nature’s sculptures in numbers. Everywhere are examples of the winds action on the soft red sandstone. As the wind abrades the rocks disarticulating them one grain at a time it leaves its mark on the stone. Each grain freed from its place joins in with the wind to free more of its cohorts. The horde finally rests in dunes and then moves and shifts as the wind pushes it. Over millions of years, what was once a ridge or a mountain, has been reduced by the relentless action of the winter, water, heat and cold, to relatively slender stone pillars. Sometimes they stand together. The Seven Sister's do not actually resemble people in anything but an imagined sense. They are icons sculpted out of red sandstone by nature. They represent the struggle of all forms, animate and stationary against the forces of time and nature. A petro glyph is a mark made into a stone surface by humans to represent some object. This is contrasted to what is often referred to as rock painting, which is a design or image painted or drawn on to the surface of the rock. Those are called pictographs. Petro glyphs images are pecked, scratched or ground into the surface of the rock. In some areas the authors used a hammer stone and a pebble as a chisel. In Southwestern deserts, petro glyphs are found on canyon walls, rocks, on cliff sides where time and weather and the unique chemistry of the rock, adds a color to the rock surface. This coating usually consists of iron and manganese dioxides mixed with other things such as the by products lichens. This is called a ‘desert varnish' or patina. With a patina or varnish the rock surfaces often appear shiny or wet. Sometimes images are also cut into a surface that is not discolored. Some images on are on high, flat canyon walls or steep rock faces sometimes as far from the ground as a dozens of meters. Works Cited 1)†GEOLOGY. † Red Rock Canyon. 30 Apr. 2009 . 2)†Red Rock Canyon Geology. † Prodigy's Personal Web Pages. 30 Apr. 2009 . 3)†Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area -. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 30 Apr. 2009 . 4)†Thrust Fault. † About Geology – The Complete Guide to Geology. 30 Apr. 2009 . 5)†Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. † Desert Biomes by DesertUSA. 30 Apr. 2009 . Interview Kelsey McNamara, grad student at Montana State University, May 2, 2009 via Email

Four Narrative Positions in Fictions Essay

In fiction novels, one of the most important elements is the authoritative narrator. The narration is the part of the material which guides the readers and keeps them in track of how the story goes. Without this element, everything will be left onto the readers, like the parts of analysis and interpretation, which may lead to confusion. There are several kinds of narrations when it comes to fiction writing. However, although all narrative styles may appear helpful guiding the readers throughout the rest of a novel, the narrative style with the utmost access to the characters consciousness is always the most effective and affective to the readers. John Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Chrysanthemums†: Outside Privileged Narration Looking at the narrative style of John Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Chrysanthemums,† it can be observed that the narrator speaks consistently in the third-person point of view. This is a one of the major properties of outside privileged narration. Another observable characteristic of the narrative position of this novel is that it has all the access to the characters’ emotions, views, feelings, and inner thoughts. The narrator seems to have all the knowledge in terms of how the characters feel as presented in this line: â€Å"Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was overeager, over-powerful. The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy† (Steinbeck page #). Aside from this, the narrator of this story also seems to have the ability to analyze the events it the story as well as the thoughts and dialogues of the characters, which is another distinct characteristic of an outside privileged narrator. This can be observed in the following line: â€Å"Here, for instance, the claustrophobic world of Elisa Allen is signaled by the claustrophobic clouds pressing in on the valley. This frustrated woman will never break free† (Steinbeck page #). Lastly, the narrator nonetheless appears credible since its presence has been close enough to the author’s views. Kate Chopin â€Å"The Story of an Hour†: Outside Effaced Narration In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, it can be easily seen that the identity of the story does not dwell much on the characters. just like in the â€Å"The Chrysanthemums,† the narrator here also tells the tale in the third-person, all-knowing point of view. However, as compared to the first short story, the narrator in this story does not have much access to the characters’ feelings and thoughts as reflected in this line which barely tells the outside manifestation of the characters’ emotions: â€Å"She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters’ arms† (Chopin page #). Moreover, the narrator also does not convey much about its presence as it can be observed that it does not always give sufficient descriptions and analysis, as presented in this line as well: â€Å"The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares† (Chopin page #). Also, this narrator is reliable in the sense that it shows the characters’ actions and describes what they are supposedly thinking and feeling, specifically that of Louise’s. However, it does not present the inner voice of the characters, nor does it express its own comments about the happenings in the story. Ralph Ellison â€Å"Battle Royal†: Inside Dramatized Narration In Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"Battle Royal,† the narrator appears as the character that is presented as the focus and identity of the novel. The narrator uses first-person pronouns which implies that he, himself is the character of the story which stars him. Unlike the short stories discussed earlier, the narrator in this story has the most access to the characters’ consciousness and feelings as he himself is the character of his own story – which makes his lines more affective and believable. This line clearly presents this attribute: â€Å"I saw them start up the steps and felt suddenly as though my head would split† (Ellison page #). Aside from this, there seems to be no question regarding the domination of the narrator in this story as he himself acts as the one who relates his own experiences: â€Å"Oh God, this wasn’t it at all. Poor techniques and not at all what I intended [†¦] Dispossessed? I cried holding up my hand and allowing the word to whistle from my throat. ‘That’s a good word, Dispossessed! Dispossessed† (Ellison page #). However, in most parts, there seem to be some questions regarding the narrator’s reliability as his and others’ knowledge in the story will always seen insufficient and not all-knowing. William Faulkner â€Å"A Rose for Emily†: Inside Restricted Narrator Just like Steinbeck’s and Chopin’s stories that were presented previously, the identity in this story is not focused on the characters. Also, it holds some similarity with the first two stories as this was also told in the third-person point of view. However, what is different in this story is that it only holds access to the consciousness of some characters and not all, as presented in the following lines: â€Å"The heart of the Rose expanded in kindness to every human being; in tenderness to the dumb creation; and for the vegetable, she felt an enthusiastic admiration. Her unaffected gaiety, and artless fullness would frequently inspire and ease in the manner of naturally reserved Emily† (Fau1kner page #). With regard to the narrator’s domination in the story, it can be seen that it constantly speaks through its own voice at times, yet there are also instances when it combines its thoughts with the character’s views: â€Å"Praise, however indirect, to her mother, always brought a flush of joy to the cheeks of Rose; she gave Emily a kiss of gratitude, and then turned to her flowers† (Fau1kner page #). In terms of the narrator’s reliability, it seems limited in the sense that it presents the shared consciousness of the townsfolk (as the narrator is deemed as the townsfolk due to the constant use of personal pronouns in plural form such as we), but it does not have access to the consciousness of all the characters, especially to the consciousness of Emily as well as the characters close to her (e. g. , the black servant). Upon exploring the different narrative styles in the aforementioned stories, it can be inferred that the reliability of the narrator definitely depends upon how well he or she is knowledgeable about the story and upon whether he or she has access to the characters’ consciousness. Moreover, although all the above-mentioned narrative styles help in guiding the readers throughout the novels, the one which possesses the utmost ability to influence and move the readers still appears to be the narrative style with utmost access to the characters’ feelings and emotions, which is the inside dramatized narrative style. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour. † Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 8th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. pages #s. Ellison, Ralph. â€Å"Battle Royal. † Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 8th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. pages #s.

International Market Entry Strategy for Hershey Foods Corp Essay

I. Introduction The Hershey Company is famously known for being the biggest manufacturer of chocolates and confectionery products in USA, having hired over 15,000 employees worldwide and exporting their products to ninety different countries over the world. The Hershey Company has several popular brands, some of most notable ones being Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, Kit Kat, Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s, York Peppermint Pattie, Rolo and Krackle Bar. With the help of these brands, Hershey gained success and popularity, making the company’s net worth over $4 billion dollars. Hershey’s products include chocolates, confectioneries, food and beverage related products such as baking ingredients, toppings etc. The company lives by its mission statement, â€Å"Undisputed Marketplace Leadership† (www.hersheys.com). Hershey continues to preserve a higher position by successfully converting consumer desires into reality. II. Objective It was Mr. Roger Clarke, Vice president Sales of Hershey International, a division of Hershey Foods Corporation, was reviewing the Australian experience. He had a board meeting to attend in a week’s time and had to present his assessment of what the cause of failure had been in Australia. Was it strategic mistake or had implementation been the problem, and what strategy would be appropriate for re-entry. in this case we will try to help how to make the re-entry going smoothly by using the key SCM strategies, tools, best practises III. Literature The International Marketing Entry Evaluation Process is a five stage process, and its purpose is to gauge which international market or markets offer the best opportunities for our products or services to succeed. The five steps are Country Identification, Preliminary Screening, In-Depth Screening, Final Selection and Direct Experience. Let’s take a look at each step in turn 1. Step One – Country Identification The World is your oyster. You can choose any country to go into. So you conduct country identification – which means that you undertake a general overview of potential new markets. There might be a simple match – for example two countries might share a similar heritage e.g. the United Kingdom and Australia, a similar language e.g. the United States and Australia, or even a similar culture, political ideology or religion e.g. China and Cuba. Often selection at this stage is more straightforward. For example a country is nearby e.g. Canada and the United States. Alternatively your export market is in the same trading zone e.g. the European Union. Again at this point it is very early days and potential export markets could be included or discarded for any number of reasons. [pic] 2. Step Two – Preliminary Screening At this second stage one takes a more serious look at those countries remaining after undergoing preliminary screening. Now you begin to score, weight and rank nations based upon macro-economic factors such as currency stability, exchange rates, level of domestic consumption and so on. Now you have the basis to start calculating the nature of market entry costs. Some countries such as China require that some fraction of the company entering the market is owned domestically – this would need to be taken into account. There are some nations that are experiencing political instability and any company entering such a market would need to be rewarded for the risk that they would take. At this point the marketing manager could decide upon a shorter list of countries that he or she would wish to enter. Now in-depth screening can begin. 3. Step Three – In-Depth Screening The countries that make it to stage three would all be considered feasible for market entry. So it is vital that detailed information on the target market is obtained so that marketing decision-making can be accurate. Now one can deal with not only micro-economic factors but also local conditions such as marketing research in relation to the marketing mix i.e. what prices can be charged in the nation? – How does one distribute a product or service such as ours in the nation? How should we communicate with are target segments in the nation? How does our product or service need to be adapted for the nation? All of this will information will for the basis of segmentation, targeting and positioning. One could also take into account the value of the nation’s market, any tariffs or quotas in operation, and similar opportunities or threats to new entrants. 4. Step Four – Final Selection Now a final shortlist of potential nations is decided upon. Managers would reflect upon strategic goals and look for a match in the nations at hand. The company could look at close competitors or similar domestic companies that have already entered the market to get firmer costs in relation to market entry. Managers could also look at other nations that it has entered to see if there are any similarities, or learning that can be used to assist with decision-making in this instance. A final scoring, ranking and weighting can be undertaken based upon more focused criteria. After this exercise the marketing manager should probably try to visit the final handful of nations remaining on the short, shortlist. 5. Step Five – Direct Experience Personal experience is important. Marketing manager or their representatives should travel to a particular nation to experience firsthand the nation’s culture and business practices. On a first impressions basis at least one can ascertain in what ways the nation is similar or dissimilar to your own domestic market or the others in which your company already trades. Now you will need to be careful in respect of self-referencing. Remember that your experience to date is based upon your life mainly in your own nation and your expectations will be based upon what your already know. Try to be flexible and experimental in new nations, and don’t be judgmental – it’s about what’s best for your company – happy hunting P.E.S.T. Analysis for Hershey PEST analysis stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis† and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management 1. Political/Legal Analysis – Chocolate producers unable to distribute products to certain countries. – Major issue is child labour in cocoa farms – Mostly affected areas in Africa where child labour runs rampant. – The Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) created the Harkin-Engel Protocol, which is an agreement that focuses on child labour practices on cocoa farms in West Africa. – Result opened new channels to export and distribute cocoa to international countries. 2. Economic Analysis – In every year, due to hurricane impact, flood, etc, the price of refined sugar decreased from $0.38 to $0.31 per pound (estimate cost). – This allowed companies to cut retail costs and redistribute the savings. – A lot of waste material is produced, and companies spend thousands of dollars on disposing it. – However, there is a new opportunity born due to recent developments in bio fuel or another energy alternative. – New method of production that can use the by-product of chocolate manufacturing companies. 3. Socio-cultural Analysis – Consumers want a larger variety of chocolates and healthier alternatives to the traditional chocolates. – Dark chocolates provided several health benefits by adding a flavonoid in the chocolate that prevents various cardiovascular problems. 4. Technological Analysis – The chocolate and cocoa industries lack supports of Non-Government Organizations (NGO), which restrict the farmer’s access to business guidance, funding, and continuing education. – Farmers can’t learn new technologies making them less efficient. – This prevents the chocolate manufacturers from gaining cocoa efficiently to create more chocolates for the consumer. Target Audience for Australia Market The primary consumers of Hershey Chocolates include a vast audience ranging from children, teenagers and adults. But mostly, Hershey targets its consumers ranging from age 13-30 years old. The chocolate bar is considered a snack or is part of a daily diet in case of some athletes. The chocolates are available in most grocery stores, gas stations, malls etc. Consumers primarily buy chocolates according to their price. They also prefer if the chocolates fit their health and nutritional requirements, although there is a very low margin of difference between selecting according to price and according to health. S.W.O.T Analysis for Hershey Food Corporation SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT Matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective a. Strengths – Hershey has grown from one product one plant to a $4 billion company with various quality chocolates. – It’s a strong brand name and has a strong image. – Hershey was largest candy maker in U.S. with 30.7% market share – And want to expansion to Australia with market share 25% – It is also the largest pasta manufacturer in U.S. with 28.4% market share – World’s largest chocolate plant in U.S., with more than 2 million sq. feet. – Powerful partnerships (Starbucks, Kraft, Coca-Cola etc) – Major profits go to Milton Hershey School for Orphans. Also donates to Red Cross, UNICEF, and Habitat for Humanity etc. – Cooperative with students and professors. Toll free number 1800-468-1714, to access additional information on request. b. Weaknesses – Hershey’s Global market share is very low, around 10% and it happen in Australia – Concern for natural environment needs to be expressed. – Cocoa production rates are rising, and even a small price increase at retail level affects consumer buying. – Poor decision making as company relies on brand loyalty and has reduced advertising expenditure. – Higher price from the competitor make Harshey became premium pricing and the target make segmented. – Insufficient promotion by Hershey c. Opportunities – Potential to expand range of Dark/Sugar free products for health benefits. – Use partnership ventures to create chocolate flavoured coffee products. – Produce cocoa in new areas other than Africa, maybe from South east Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, etc) – Produce bio-fuel and another alternative Energy from the chocolate by-products – Develop environment friendly packaging, recycling industrial waste – China, India and majority of South East Asia are untapped markets and it can be delivered from Australian. d. Threats – Consumer demanding healthier substitutes. – Steady rise in prices of cocoa, milk and sugar. – Main competitors are Mars and Nestle. – 25% of Nestle revenues profits come from coffee. Nestle plays its strengths in international markets. Hershey is more focused on just local markets. – Mars uses extensive marketing and advertising expenditures to gain market share. Hershey just uses product innovations Five forces to growth in Australia 1. Threat for new entrants There is very little threat for new entrants in the chocolate industry because of the current economy, the various differences in products, and the constant need for large capital requirements. Also, since there is a lack of distribution channels and with the strict FDA regulations kept in place for food manufacturers, the threat for new entrants is almost non-existent 2. Bargaining powers of buyers The bargaining powers of buyers increase by two factors: a number of large volume buyers and the buyers’ relatively low profits from the product. But since the industry as so many different products, the presence of different costs, the bargaining power of the buyers is low to moderate at best. 3. Bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers has decreased since the chocolate industry is an important customer for the suppliers. But the power is moderate to high since the suppliers are concentrated; there are no substitute products available. 4. Pressures from substitute products The chocolate companies compete with various substitutes that threaten the industry. There are various flavours that are used as a substitute for chocolate. These include vanilla, butter, mint, rose, lemon, etc. Many consumers readily switch to these as they also consider chocolate to be unhealthy. 5. Rivalries amongst competitors Among the chocolate industry, there are intense rivalries amongst the highest competitors. There are numerous strong chocolate manufacturers giving out various varieties of chocolates at different prices, resorting to creative advertising schemes, constantly giving out new products and high quality chocolates to satisfy the consumer needs. Marketing mix Strategy a. Product – The new ‘Hershey Slim’ dark chocolates will have a flavonoid substance added which helps protect the cardiovascular system and is efficient until three hours upon consumption – Produced for health conscious consumers to ensure that Hershey favours healthier alternatives. Hershey will also assure people with health issues such as diabetics, that their chocolates are a safe and healthy alternative. – The core strategy is to reinvent the image of chocolates from being a source of a lot of sugar and calories therefore making people fat and/or diabetic, to an image where chocolates are considered an aid for protecting the consumers from heart disease and enhancing the rate of metabolism, by using flavonoids in their products. b. Price – To keep the chocolates reasonably affordable, keeping current financial trends in mind. – To have a promotion campaign in part with the contest – Currently chocolate bars are priced at $2.50 each. As part of the contest promotion, the chocolate will be sold at $2.00 each. – c. People – Target Audience would primarily be consumers from age range of 13-30 years, particularly health conscious individuals. – The most bought products are chocolate bars, which some consider as a snack, while others as part of their daily diet. d. Place – The chocolates will be available in grocery stores, malls, supermarkets, gas stations, coffee shops, airports, and at the main outlets. |Major Channel Distributors |Secondary Channels | |Supermarkets |Commercial stores (7-11, Cheers) | |Department Stores |Amusement areas (cinemas, parks) | |Pharmacy |School | |Duty Free Outlets |Mini market | |Grocery store |Channel Distributor | |Gas Stations | | |Main outlet | | e. Promotion – The chocolates will be marketed through an interactive contest. Also, some promotional programs could be held under joint sponsorships through gyms/spas. – customised chocolate products for the promotional, corporate, hospitality and special occasions industries Objectives and Strategies a. Product – To reinvent Hershey Chocolates as a health conscious low calorie dark chocolate. – To reassure health conscious consumers to purchase this new product by providing all the necessary nutritional information – Hershey’s goal is to keep each product’s nutrition information up-to-date and accurate b. Objectives – To promote the health benefits of the new Hershey Dark Chocolate – Help the consumers change their mind-set that chocolates are unhealthy. – To spread awareness and increase sales of the product. c. Strategy – To increase sales using promotional materials such as an interactive contest. – Make a new plant for chocolate nearby Australia, to increase the cost and make the price competitive. Example: we can use one of the three proposed strategies. 1. Hershey Dark Chocolate Mascot Strategy – Each chocolate has a code which in the package – Unlocks part of a character. A total of 25 unique parts allowing consumers to create 120 variations of characters. – Customers can go online and create the character of choice online and submit to the contest – Winning character will be the new mascot for the Hershey Slim. Winner will also receive gift vouchers and a 1 month membership to California Fitness Gym 2. Healthy mind, healthy body with Hershey Strategy – In the chocolate packaging are instructions to visit website – Consumers have to play a classic memory game which has five levels of difficulty. – Cards show healthy foods, and Hershey products – Winners who complete the final score under a specific time limit win a one day all access pass to California Fitness Gym 3. Wrapper Cash Strategy – Each Hershey Slim wrapper contains points – These points can be collected under an online account – Purchases can be made from the Hershey shop using these points. – There would be a limit to the number of points one can input per day, per account. – The more you save, the bigger better things you can buy. – Products would mostly include exercise equipment. Possible to buy products at half their retail price using the point system. Reference â€Å"Hershey Co. Form 10-K†, The Hersheys Company, December 31st, 2009. Retrieved January 14th, 2011. http://www.thehersheycompany.com/assets/pdfs/hersheycompany/2009AnnualReport.pdf Lovell, Jeremy. â€Å"Eat More Chocolates and Help the Environment† PlanetArk.com November 7th, 2007. Retrieved January 14th, 2011. Michael et al. â€Å"The Hershey Company – Introduction the World of Chocolate†, 2007. Retrieved January 10th, 2011. â€Å"U.S. Labour Department Funds Project to Evaluate Effectiveness of Anti-Child-Labour Efforts in the Cocoa Industry.† World’s Technology News. October 4th,2006. Retrieved January 14th, 2011. Website – http://www.marketingteacher.com – www.hersheys.com – www.thehersheycompany.com – www.gogle.com

Followership and Model I and II

The model of followership presented by Goffe and Jones indicates the significance of three emotions which an individual produces in a person which leads them to follow him. These three emotions are summarized as given below. (a) The first emotional response an individual evokes is that of a feeling of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   significance or importance. Thus leaders who create an impression in people that they matter will be able to obtain even the, â€Å"heart and soul† of their followers.    This is not just a response of blind adulation. It flows from an appreciation by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the leader not just their personalities but also their work. Thus the follower will    give loyalty and even implicit obedience. (b)   The second response is that of a feeling of community, a sense of belonging to an organization where the leader creates unity of purpose around the work   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   which they all do. The leader is one who the follower sees as having created a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   feeling of the community. (c)   The third emotional response is the feeling of buzz, an excitement which is   Ã‚   created by the sheer presence of the leader. His energy and enthusiasm is   Ã‚  Ã‚   contagious.   Followers are willingly led by such leaders who provide them   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   excitement, challenge and a passion to live their lives. This may be called as    charisma but actually is much more than that. Argyris and Schon (Dick. Dalmau, 1990) have provided an understanding of the conscious and subconscious processes of reasoning. This fits in well with the emotional aspects of followership indicated by Goffe and Jones. Argyris Model II ideally fits into the theory of followership espoused by Goffee and Jones. In Model II, the leader provides a scope for double loop learning. This implies that there is open inquiry of issues thereby which people are placed in a position of significance and respond to a situation based on a community based pattern of involvement which is highlighted in double loop learning model of Argyris. The emotional feeling of a buzz created by a leader’s presence is heightened in the Model II for the leader provides inspiration. On the other hand, Model I is based on the single loop theory through which most leaders operate till they understood the advantage of the double loop theory (Argyris et al.   1985, p.   89). The excessive control exercised by the leader in Model I is not conducive to creating an emotional feeling of importance as well as a sense of belonging to a larger organization or establishment (Argyris, et al. 1985, p.   89). Power: How Its Meaning in Corporate Life is Changing Gary in his summary on the various views of power has provided us how perception of power has changed over the years. In the initial years it was the emotional response of charisma, the buzz that is categorized as the third factor by Goffee and Jones that was the essence of power in leaders. However gradually this perception has changed and power came to regarded as an issue for organizations productivity. This is the power used for creating a feeling of community of belonging and one which provided a unity of purpose. Thus we see a shift in power from Model I to Model II very gradually. Model II or the double loop theory propounded by Argyris is a power paradigm which can be associated with that advocated by David McCelland and David Burnham. Thus managers in this model were democratic and more willing to share their power with others with a view to creating a community feeling in the organization but one which was primarily driven towards achieving goals of the organization (McCelland. Burnham, 1995). James Hillman in his in depth analysis of power has indicated that there could be more elements or purposes to power than that indicated by the purely simplistic explanation of exercising coercive force. He provides a benign expression of power that of providing service to the organization (Hillman, 1995). While Model I denoted by Argyris has indicated power in its coercive function as defined by Hillman, for in it the leader will attempt to control unilaterally, the subsequent transformation indicates development towards Model II   (Argyris. 1985). Power in the Hillman model is to seek followership in which it is linked with the two emotions of making people feel important and creating a community feeling for achieving corporate goals. Ronald Heifetz indicates that power does not necessarily imply the ability to protect people from threat but to let them feel the threat through simulation and adaptation. This is the new model of power which is aligned to Argyris’ Model II wherein the protection offered by Model I which also includes protection of ones group of followers is done away with. By exposing followers to disorientation by the threats which are the essence of a new age, the 21st Century, it will lead people to transformations required to fit into the new age (Heifetz, 1994). The Living Company The Living Company is one which survives because leaders consider the company as a congregation of people and not as an organization which produces goods and services. Thus people are more valued than assets. This focus on the people is what makes these organizations perform consistently over a long period in some cases as the Sumitomo over the centuries. People are given importance which is due to them because they are working in the company efficiently and effectively. They provide a feeling of belonging to the organization such as Unilever and finally they have a series of leaders who define the trajectory of growth for individuals as well as the company. These leaders see themselves as shaping a human community The Living company follows the Argyris Model II with powerful double loop learning systems which effectively provides feedback, creates internal commitment as well as leads to informed decision making. This in turn continuously provides a perception of the deficiencies to the management which undertakes continuous improvements. This also leads to generation of new ideas and development of new businesses. Managing in the Cappuccino Economy The companies in the Cappuccino economy provide a high degree of importance to people even in junior positions by allowing them to make independent decisions. They are in turn spurred by the faith placed by the management in their abilities even for critical decisions which affect the company’s bottom line. On the other hand the non cappuccino companies do not provide such freedom to the management. The results achieved by these companies are of a higher order which is benchmarked by the rise in equity of these companies by the author. The top end companies of the Cappuccino economy follow Model II which comprises of empowerment and sharing in decision making right down to the last level. These companies also delimit control by the higher executives though given Argyris predictions once the companies grow, the instinctive response to control may come back. However by establishing training and coaching, Argyris has indicated that Model II skills can be built up in these companies on a continuous basis. The non Cappuccino companies on the other hand follow Model I; thereby they are unable to adjust to the changing circumstances lacking a double loop feedback. Empowerment : The Emperor’s New Clothes Empowerment implies enhancing an employee’s self worth which in turn will build his commitment to the organization. Thus a firm which demonstrates to an employee that he can control his own destiny, that he is important will get maximum commitment from him. On the other hand Argyris also indicates that the process of change itself does not make people feel important as it only indicates to them what change is required (Argyris, 1998).   It is change that is more important than the employee, thus he may not be fully committed to the process. Empowerment is many times inhibited by leadership in most organizations. These executives are control oriented, hence are unable to be seen as charismatic, â€Å"light houses†. He has also indicated that many people do not want to be empowered. They feel more comfortable in being led. Argyris also feels that it is performance per se which is the most important factor and not empowerment (Argyris, 1998). Thus some organizations in their enthusiasm for empowering the employee by making him feel important, tend to overlook the results that are produced by him. This empowerment is considered self defeating. Argyris Model I corresponds to external commitment that does not provide much leeway to employees to define their own goals and tasks. This thus does not profess empowerment (Argyris, 1998)   Control remains with the management or the higher leadership and employees are expected to merely follow the laid down norms. Argyris has advocated Model I for most routine jobs which may not entail too much empowerment. Such jobs are better performed through external commitment rather than internal. Argyris Model II corresponds to an organization which offers its employees internal commitment. This enables maximum participation by employees in the project in turn enhancing the way in which they are empowered. However implementing Model II as per Argyris is an extremely difficult and challenging process, hence many organizations profess rather than practice the same. Why Should Anyone be Led by You? Inspirational leaders are known to possess four basic qualities, they demonstrate willingly their own weakness, they rely on intuition for seeking the appropriate time for an intervention, empathize freely yet firmly with followers and are not afraid to demonstrate their own uniqueness. By showing to the followers that they have weaknesses as other men they convey a feeling of being human thereby building up a sense of community in the group. This also helps in establishing a common bond based on a feeling of want or need. The intuitiveness and unique differences that they demonstrate contributes to the charisma which creates a buzz about them and inspires other people. The demonstration of difference is also appreciated by followers as it indicates a spirit of adventure denoted by leaders as Sir John Harvey-Jones, CEO of ICI. By empathizing with their followers, the leaders indicate to them that they are an important facet of their lives, providing the led the sense of being of consequence, thereby inviting greater loyalty. The inspirational leader is also able to use the right quality amongst this at the most appropriate time. The last quality is what is most important for practical application as it enables leaders to practice leadership by being themselves rather than creating a faà §ade. The inspirational leader denotes Model II provided by Argyris which is evident from the fact that he is not only open to a double loop feedback but also welcomes it. He uses this to sustain and support the overall good of the organization. The leader in this case is willing to share control over his self with his followers which provides them a unique sense of empowerment building an infinite sense of loyalty. Leaders are also able to gain intuitive feedback of the system thereby contributing to the double loop of Model II. By being open, fair, transparent and appropriately empathizing with their subordinates, these leaders are the anti thesis of Model I organizations where leaders are aloof, directional and do not expect or welcome a feedback. Inspirational leaders thus seem to fit in ideally with a Model II organization. Reference:- Argyris, C.   (1985) Strategy, change & defensive routines.   Boston: Pitman. Argyris, C., Putnam, R., & McLain Smith, D.   (1985) Action science: concepts, methods, and skills for research and intervention.   San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Dick, B., & Dalmau, T.   (1990) Values in action: Applying the ideas of Argyris and Schon.   Brisbane: Interchange. Heifetz, Ronald. (1994). Leadership without Easy Answers. Belkap Press. Hillman, James. (1995) Kinds of Power. Currency Books. McClelland, David. Burnham, David. Power is the Great Motivator. Harvard Business Reprint. Jan-Feb 1995. (Case Study) Gary, Loren. Power: How Its Meaning in Corporate Life is Changing. (Case Study) Goffee, Robert. Jones, Gareth. Followership. Harvard Business Review. (Case Study). Gues, Arie de. The Living Company. (Case Study). Shapiro, Eileen C. Managing in the Cappuccino Economy. (Case Study). Argyris, Chris. Empowerment : The Emperor’s New Clothes. Harvard Business Review. May-June 1998. (Case Study) Goffee, Robert. Jones, Gareth. Why Should Anyone be Let by You?   Ha rvard Business Review. September – October 2000.